[REVIEW] Earth & Sky

Seventeen-year-old Skylar has been haunted for as long as she can remember by fleeting yet powerful sensations that something is horribly wrong. But despite the visions of disaster that torment her, nothing ever happens, and Sky’s beginning to think she’s crazy. Then she meets a mysterious, otherworldly boy named Win and discovers the shocking truth her premonitions have tapped into: that our world no longer belongs to us. For thousands of years, life on Earth has been at the mercy of alien scientists who care nothing for humans and are using us as the unwitting subjects of their time-manipulating experiments. Win belongs to a rebel faction seeking to put a stop to it, and he needs Skylar’s help to save the world and keep the very fabric of reality together. Megan Crewe’s latest tale takes readers on a mind-bending journey through time with a cast of unforgettable characters.

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Time traveling + aliens? Count me in please! Earth & Sky has a really interesting premise that really hooked me. I have no idea why I never picked it up before.

If we have the courage to take that chance, to question those who would keep us locked in the same old patterns, we can become something so incredible that we'll set all our lives on a completely different course. -loc924

Skylar is a very great heroine. Right from the beginning, I'm already loving her - her love for numbers, her relationship with her brother (which was later explored and I'll be talking about). I like her skepticism - she's not someone you can just fool, she doubts, she really tries to know what is up, she wants proof. I like how she reasons out and how her uncertainly just plays out naturally.

Win, on the other hand, didn't feel like a very strong character for me. I do see where he's coming from with his 'alien' background and his position in the rebel faction. I see why he's holding off information from Skylar. I really understand him but he just didn't feel like a very reliable partner, guy, or person, in general. If you ask me, he practically didn't do anything important in their mission aside from jumping Skylar from one place/time to another.

The world - the time travelling mechanics, Win's world - was not well explored but I was not completely absorbed into it. The historical aspects of the story was more of an 'okay' thing for me. Crewe failed to bring me to the time periods Win and Skylar visited. They were just plainly jumping through time, quick mentions of the setting, nothing special. Crewe doesn't make feel like I'm there.

As I said, I'll talk about Skylar and her brother, Noam. Noam is perhaps, Skylar's weakness. Noam went missing when he was around 15yrs or something, Skylar was 5-ish. Skylar carries a burden since then about she could have stopped her brother from leaving, from running away. She keeps on going on how she could have talked him out of leaving. This is the only thing Skylar wishes that can only be done with the help of Win. Yet of course, doing so means huge consequences - Skylar really has no idea what happened to Noam, what he did on that fateful day, why we left. Skylar's feelings for Noam was really a great aspect of the story. It gives Skylar that dramatic side in her.

"When he left, I knew I should have noticed that something was wrong. If I had, maybe I could have said something that would have changed his mind. Maybe he thought I didn't even care that he was leaving." -loc2379

But Skylar being dramatic isn't really the issue here. I think that being sad or never getting over her brother is a normal thing. What really bothered me is how she keeps on going about how she'll stop her brother from leaving at five! Or how she'll talk him out of it at five! How she should have noticed something at five! How it could even be possible is beyond me. Kids can maybe sweet talk on adults but really persuade him to stop something he has set his mind on? I don't know about that. It could be a small issue for others but I really just can't get over that idea.

MOVING ON, was really great and really caught me off guard. The full truth behind the Win and his people was really something I liked. It had me nodding and going: oohhh, that's something that could really be amazing if were true.

Finally, the ending felt a bit forced for me. I do see that things don't feel completely done yet it could have been done without Skylar. It really show show badly the author wants it to be a series - how a new conflict will rise in the next book.

OVERALL, Earth & Sky is a scifi novel with a very interesting premise yet not perfectly executed. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying that it didn't absorbed me. Skylar is a great heroine though. She's strong, slowly developed, and someone you cannot just mess with.

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What I Like: (1) the plot - the time travelling aliens + the effects of time travelling to earth, (2) Skylar - definitely a great protagonist, (3) the twist, the full truth on Win's people - really interesting part right here,

What I Didn’t Like: (1) how it didn't absorbed me - sucks, I know but it's still something that's totally worth reading, (2) my issue on Skylar's age and how insisting she was that she'll understand her brother then, (3) Win - I know he's kind of like a main character but I don't like him. at all.